Chapter 59: Third Awakening
At the entrance of the Cripples' Village, the village chief, Grandpa Ma, Deaf, Blind, and the others stood staring blankly at the grand ceremony in the neighboring village. Their hearts surged with emotion. Who could have imagined that the Celestial Demon Sect, the foremost sect of the demonic path, the renowned Celestial Demon Sect, would find their future Sect Leader in this remote, impoverished place? A young lord who had not yet turned twelve?
They had witnessed this event, and it felt as if they were watching a legendary tale. Even the bright sunlight seemed strange and surreal.
Granny Si suddenly burst into tears, choking out, "He will leave us..."
"This is a good thing, Granny."
The Medicine Master said gently, "A fledgling bird always has a day to grow up, to fly out and see the wider world, to brave the wind and waves, to leave home and witness the dangers outside. We cannot keep him by the side of us old cripples forever."
Blind said calmly, "The legend begins the moment he takes his first step out of the village."
Mute smiled, gesturing with his hands, and Deaf laughed, "You're right. Mu'er's future will surely be more colorful and exciting than ours."
---
On the banks of the Yong River.
Splendid and luxurious multi-story ships sailed in, docking at the riverbank. Many villagers of the Celestial Demon Village left one after another. Some flew directly into the air, others departed on the ships, some transformed into strange beasts and vanished into the forests, others turned into flames and flew away, and some escaped by diving into the water.
Each had their own unique skills. Qin Mu watched, dazzled. Although he had defeated them in the Embryo realm, he lacked their bizarre and extraordinary methods.
"Farewell, Young Lord!" A woman waved at him, then leaned backward into the river, turning into a splash of water that flowed downstream.
Qin Mu waved back at them. He didn't know if they were good or bad people. He only knew that he had become their Young Lord like this. When he finally left the Great Ruins, would he meet them again?
"Our Holy Sect has spent forty years infiltrating the Great Ruins, searching for the whereabouts of the Sect Leader's wife. Now, our mission is finally complete. Fellow Daoists, the Sect Leader and his wife, you should know that our Holy Sect has been inactive for forty years. Without a Sect Leader to hold the reins, we have lost our backbone. Now, the Holy Sect is in imminent danger."
The Young Ancestor also rose to take his leave, saying to the village chief and Granny Si, "For now, selecting a Young Lord is merely a temporary measure to stabilize morale, but it won't last long. The State Preceptor of the Yan Kingdom watches us like a hawk, wanting to subdue and use our sect. As long as I live, I can stall for a few more years. Therefore, once the Young Lord comes of age, he must leave the Great Ruins and formally become the Sect Leader of the Holy Sect."
The village chief looked at Granny Si. She nodded and said, "Ancestor, rest assured. I killed one Holy Lord, and I will surely give you another. When he comes of age, he will go to the Holy Sect and take charge of the great power, just as you wish!"
The Young Ancestor summoned the Law Enforcement Elder, bowed to everyone, turned, and walked towards the Yong River. This old man and young boy, in plain cloth and straw sandals, leaning on staffs, walked across the river and drifted away.
Blind, leaning on his bamboo staff, sang loudly, his desolate voice echoing back and forth along the banks of the Yong River.
"A straw cloak, a bamboo hat, a flat boat; a ten-foot line, a one-inch hook; a loud song, a cup of wine; one man alone fishes an autumn river! Demon Sect Ancestor, you and I are old. I wonder if we will ever meet again. Farewell!"
In the middle of the river, the Young Ancestor stopped, turned around, and waved to everyone: "Everyone, farewell! Haha!"
He sang loudly: "Eight hundred old men idle away their sorrows, content with their life's ambitions; after death, they ascend proudly to the clouds, where the clouds fly high and the water flows freely!"
Blind praised, "Worthy of the Demon Sect Ancestor, seeing through life and death, feeling his life is complete, wanting to laugh at the changing world from heaven even after death!"
The village chief said leisurely, "This is a Grandmaster. Blind, you are not far from this state of mind."
"Still just showing off."
Deaf laughed, "Blind is just spouting random poems, full of nonsense, fitting neither the mood nor the scene. The Demon Sect Ancestor's poem, however, fits the mood and scene, and doesn't lack boldness."
Blind stammered, "You don't understand poetry, only survival!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Qin Mu also smiled, looking at these optimistic people. Although they were all more or less disabled, their spirits were incredibly strong and sound.
"My family..."
Suddenly, he felt a surging power erupt from between his brows. Qin Mu's heart stirred. He quickly looked inward at his Embryo Divine Treasury and was slightly stunned: "My Embryo has awakened again!"
His Embryo had already awakened three times. The first time was when his consciousness merged with it, triggering the awakening. The second time was in the blacksmith's shop, observing fire and water, when the Embryo fell silent and then awakened a second time.
This time, after his training in the Three Hundred and Sixty Chambers, the Embryo had once again absorbed the golden light from the Divine Treasury and fallen silent again.
But this period of silence was longer, and it had only just awakened now!
What changes would this awakening bring him?
"Awakened again?"
Everyone's expressions turned strange. When Qin Mu told them about his Embryo's third awakening, the faces of the village chief, Medicine Master, Grandpa Ma, and the others became very peculiar. Other people's Embryos only needed to awaken once. Why did Qin Mu's Embryo keep falling silent and awakening again?
"Does the Four Great Physiques also undergo a third awakening?" Qin Mu asked.
Everyone exchanged glances, each shaking their heads, then they all looked at the village chief.
The village chief's head ached. He muttered to himself. It was one thing for Qin Mu to awaken once, but he kept awakening again and again. Now, a third awakening left him feeling baffled as well.
"It's the Overlord Body."
The village chief coughed, directly attributing what he didn't understand or know to the Overlord Body, and said flatly, "You people have too little experience. What is the name of the Overlord Body's technique? The Overlord Body Three Pill Art! What does 'Three Pill' mean? The first awakening is the first pill, the second awakening is the second pill, and the third awakening is the third pill. Now that Mu'er has awakened for the third time, it shows that his Overlord Body Three Pill Art has achieved some success. Mu'er, don't get arrogant!"
Qin Mu quickly nodded, "I definitely won't get arrogant."
Medicine Master said with a half-smile, "What if Mu'er awakens a fourth time? Would that be the fourth pill?"
The village chief was furious with embarrassment, wishing he could pounce on him and stab him in the ribs twice.
But Medicine Master wasn't wrong. What if this kid's Embryo really did awaken a fourth time?
How would he cover up this lie then?
"Ahem, Mu'er, what's different about your Embryo's third awakening?" the village chief asked, changing the subject.
Qin Mu carefully sensed his Embryo. It seemed no different from before. The only change was that the golden light ocean in his Embryo Divine Treasury had become much thinner.
Now, the golden sea was very sparse. The golden light in the sea didn't seem to regenerate automatically; it decreased a little every time the Embryo absorbed some.
Qin Mu circulated his primal energy. His Embryo also mobilized the primal energy, sometimes coiling with a green dragon, sometimes stepping on a black tortoise and draped in a giant snake, sometimes growing a pair of wings. His primal energy could change according to his will, without needing to observe water, fire, or dragons!
When Qin Mu told everyone this, the village chief and the others looked at each other in bewilderment, not understanding why this change had occurred.
"This is a good thing."
The village chief exhaled a breath of turbid air and said, "The Overlord Body's Embryo has awakened for the third time, allowing seamless switching between various attributes. In battle, one can effortlessly unleash the power of various techniques. This is the wonderful use of the Overlord Body Three Pill Art."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Medicine Master was about to speak, but was glared at by the village chief, so he had to swallow his words, muttering to himself, "When Mu'er awakens a fourth time, let's see how you cover it up then!"
---
"The breath enters and exits the nose like smoke; the body and mind are clear within, the round world becomes empty and pure, like crystal..."
Under the waterfall in Emerald Cloud Valley, a slightly immature voice reciting came from a thatched cottage. Through the lattice window, one could see a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy holding a scroll in one hand, pacing and reading inside the room. A snow-white fox watched him intently.
The boy was Qin Mu, and the white fox was Hu Ling'er, the great demon of Emerald Cloud Valley.
Not long after, Hu Ling'er's breathing gradually lengthened. Two streams of white air, like smoke, went in and out under the little fox's nostrils. With each inhale and exhale, the white air went in and out.
Hu Ling'er's primal energy became increasingly pure, reaching an extremely high level of quality, with breath like smoke.
Two years and eight months had passed since the Celestial Demon Sect's visit. Winter had just ended, and it was still the chilly season of early spring. The surface of the Yong River hadn't completely thawed yet, and broken ice flowed downstream with the current.
At the bends in the river channel, ice often jammed, piling up higher and higher, forming blockages. The water level would also rise higher and higher. When the ice wall could no longer hold, it would trigger a massive flood, sweeping down the lower reaches of the Yong River, drowning countless people and strange beasts.
These past few days, Blind, Granny Si, Lame, and the others had all gone downstream to look for ice-dammed lakes and weren't in the village. So Qin Mu came out to find Hu Ling'er and explain the scriptures to her.
In the past two years, his height had caught up to Blind, but he was still a head shorter than the burly Medicine Master.
Suddenly, a roar came from outside the window, shaking the mountains and forests. Qin Mu closed the scroll and placed it on the bookshelf. The white fox was also startled awake by the roar. The one person and one fox went out to look, and saw a giant beast over ten zhang long charging towards them, heading straight for the thatched cottage!
The beast was covered in bony plates, its charge like thunder. Its head was like a dragon's, its legs like an elephant's, immensely powerful. It was a Dragon-Elephant, a hybrid born from a dragon and an elephant. But on the back of this Dragon-Elephant sat a pitch-black demon ape, burly and sturdy, holding a twelve-ring monk's staff in its hand. It rode the Dragon-Elephant, charging menacingly towards the cottage!
Hu Ling'er jumped in front of Qin Mu, opened her mouth to inhale, pursed her lips, and blew forward.
Whoosh—
A fierce wind howled, rushing straight towards the Dragon-Elephant and the demon ape. Hu Ling'er wagged her tail, and the wind grew fiercer, howling and spinning into a tornado, lifting the Dragon-Elephant and the ape on its back into the air.
The demon ape leaped, jumping off the Dragon-Elephant's back, gripping the monk's staff with both hands. The staff grew larger and larger!
"Khadira—"
The demon ape roared, falling from mid-air like a small mountain. It slammed the staff with both hands deep into the ground. A violent surge of air burst out in all directions, breaking the little fox's tornado spell!
The demon ape pulled out the staff, leaped agilely, swung it, and smashed it towards Hu Ling'er. With a deafening clang, Qin Mu raised his hand and blocked the blow for Hu Ling'er.
At that moment, Hu Ling'er leaped aside, opened her mouth, and spat out wind blades shaped like zhang-long curved knives. Six or seven wind knives flew up and down, but instead of attacking the demon ape, they slashed towards Qin Mu!